The Day He Was Gone
by Ilizjon
Summary: Delia receives horrible news: her son, Ash, was found dead, and no one knows what exactly happened to him. But May Maple can't believe in her friend's death. Is Ash really gone? Will May be able to find out what really happened to her friend?
1. Chapter 1

**I know that "Return To The Past" isn`t done yet, but an idea for a story popped in my mind a few days ago. And I finally decided to use it :D** **I hope you enjoy reading it!**

* * *

Another sunny day started in Pallet Town, a small, peaceful city, which was located in Kanto region. It wasn`t well known in the world of Pokemon, but some people could connect it with the probably most respected professor in whole region - Samuel Oak. His researches were studied by many scientists, and every one of his books was a bestseller, especially his poems. But recently Pallet Town started to be known of another person, an 18-years old boy who won Kalos League and was able to beat the Elite Four of the same region. He lost to Diantha, the champion, but he fought to the end, and he was still able to beat 5 of her Pokemon. That was a great achievement anyway, so his mother Delia started to prepare a room for his another trophy. She started her day with some cleaning, which was her favourite activity. Along with her Pokemon, Mr. Mime, she would clean her house everyday only to not be bored. She had a great mood this day. And she didn`t know that it will be probably the worst day in her whole life.

While she was cleaning a table in kitchen, someone knocked to the door. Delia, who was sure that it`s her beloved son, who was behind the door, happily opened them. And she was very surprised to see two men wearing black suits and hats in the same color. She looked at them with a surprised look. All three of them were silent for a while, but one man decided to break the silence. He cleared his throat and spoke slowly.

"Excuse me, but is there a chance that you`re Delia Ketchum, the mother of Ash Ketchum?"

"Yes, it is me, why are you asking? Did something happen?" the red-haired woman asked, unaware of what was coming next.

"To be honest, yes. But can we talk about it inside the house? You should sit on something before we start" another man said. Delia nodded, and everyone entered the house. She sat on a sofa and looked again at the men, who were standing above her.

"If you have any friends in this town, I would suggest you to tell them to come here as fast as they can, it is very important."

"Okay, give me a minute" Delia said as she walked to the videophone. She phoned to Samuel and his grandson, Gary. Delia was very close to the professor, who also was her best friend. He was the only person she could talk to, because her son would always travel somewhere else when he was done with one region, and Delia, although she had Mr. Mime, still felt very, very alone. She learned that they weren`t alone in their lab at the moment, but they declared that they are going to come ina few minutes, along with their guests. And they did, after five minutes Delia let them in.

"Hello Delia, what`s the matter?" Professor Oak came in first and asked with a smile.

"You see, two men arrived here a while ago and they asked me to bring some friends to my house, I don`t know what is going on, but it must be something important."

"Hello Mrs. Ketchum!" Gary shouted, jumping from behind of Samuel. Delia smiled at him, but she was very surprised when she saw their "guests".

"Brock? Misty? What are you doing here?" Delia asked; it was nice to see some of Ash`s closest friends after nearly year.

"You see, Professor invited us to show his newest discovery to us, but that`s not important right now" Brock explained. "Why were we called in such a rush?"

"We`ll see... I only hope that nothing really happened..." Delia said with a frown. "Let`s go to the living room, there we`ll see what do those man want to say."

* * *

"So... what is exactly going on?" she asked.

"Ma`am, we are sorry to be the ones who inform you about this, but..." the man sighed. "Your... your son is dead."

Everyone opened their mouths in shock. Only Delia was able to say something.

"What are you talking about?" Delia smiled weakly to them, not accepting what they were saying. "I talked to my Ashy yesterday and he was perfectly fine, it`s impossible that..."

"Ma`am, his body was found today in the morning in one of the streets in Lumiose City. We have a few photos, but we will show them to you only if you want to see them" one of the men grabbed one of his pockets and opened it, revealing three photos. Delia`s attitude suddenly changed when it hit her: those men weren`t joking. She looked at her friends: they all had the same look on their faces, they were frightened.

She grabbed the photos with a shaking hand. When she saw them, she started to cry histerically. She covered her face with her hands and let the photos fall on the floor. The men in black tried to comfort her, but it wasn`t looking that she would be able to calm down anytime.

"It`s impossible..." Misty said, barely breathing; when Samuel, Brock and Gary examined the photo, their faces went pale. It really was Ash on the photo. Although they tried to hold back, every one of them burst out with cry.

"Misty, I don`t think that you should see this..." Brock said through sobs. Misty didn`t care about what he said and grabbed the photos from his hands. After looking at them for three seconds she had enough; she lost her consciousness and fell on Brock`s shoulder, her face wet and pale.

No one said anything more, there was only crying and sobbing in disbelief.

* * *

 ** _Two days later..._**

"MAX!" a loud scream could be heard from Petalburg City`s gym. It was a voice of May Maple - seventeen years old daughter of Norman and Caroline. Her father was a gym leader, so she, and her brother Max were supposed to clean the gym often. And on that day they were going to do it, or, at least May was going to do it. But her brother didn`t care about his father`s orders and used to try to sneak out of his house for that time. But this time May wasn`t going to let him run away. She caught her brother right when he was going to open the main door and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"May, please! I did it a week ago, why can`t I take a break now?" he acted as if he was going to cry; the only thing that he forgot was that he was thirteen now and this trick won`t work anymore.

"Don`t make me angry even more, Max" May hissed at her brother. "Don`t think that you can do what you want only because our parents left for some meetings in Mauville City."

"Okay, okay, I`ll help you with the gym" Max muttered.

"Not only with the gym, but you will do the laundry. After your match yesterday you just simply left your clothes in the bathroom, like if you were waiting for someone to clean it for you!" May was getting even more angrier. "Why can`t you be more responsible?"

"I think that you`re overacting sis, it was only a shirt and two pair of shorts. It`s not like I`m doing it every day" Max stated.

"I don`t care, ugh, why must you still be so childish? At your age, you should be more mature!" May yelled. "I still remember what happened two days ago!"

"I said that I was sorry for breaking that vase, it`s not my fault that my Treecko started to jump on everything in living room! And I know what you`re going to say: I should be responsible for actions of my Pokemon..."

"It`s nice that you remembered that at least" May facepalmed.

"Ugh, just let me go already, I can`t breathe!" Max yelled, trying to get free. May decided to break her grip on his shirt, which resulted in him collapsing heavily on the ground.

"Ayy, May, what`s gotten into you? You started to act different three months ago. Now you easily get angry for the most silly things, and I haven`t seen a smile on your face since a month, you know, when you were talking with Ash for the last time" Max said, rubbing his neck in pain. "Hey, while we are talking about Ash... he is supposed to be in Pallet already, right? Why don`t we phone him? I really want to know how he did in his fight with Diantha!"

"Okay, that`s a great idea" May smiled, but the smile itself quickly disappeared from her face. "Although I know that you want to do that only to shirk off your duties." Max grinned sheepishly; at least May smiled, only for a second, but that was something. They walked to a videophone, which was standing next to the entrance of the gym. May launched the machine and typed Delia`s number. Surprisingly, no one answered.

"Huh, it`s not normal for Delia to not answer to any of calls" May said, not sure what to think about it. She tried to call to Ash`s house another time, but without any results. May looked at Max, who simply shrugged and both of them started to head back to the main part of her house. But they stopped when they heard a beep sound, which meant that someone was calling them. May quickly answered and the screen lightened up. Two siblings noticed Delia on it, but something definitely wasn`t right; she wasn`t looking at the screen, her eyes were heavily bloodshot, she also had dark circles under them. She was in horrible state.

"Hello...?" she muttered slowly. After a few seconds she raised her eyes to see two familiar faces on the screen. "Oh, hello May and Max, it`s good to see you."

"Mrs. Ketchum, what happened to you? You look horrible, like if you weren`t sleeping for a week!" Max shouted, but was quickly punched by his sister; May pointed her finger in his room`s direction, and Max understood it perfectly. When the girl was alone, she turned to the red-haired woman.

"I`m so sorry for my brother, but he was partially right; something terrible happened, am I right?" May asked worriedly. Delia nodded and some tears started to fall from her eyelids.

"Oh, so you don`t know anything yet? May, I don`t know how to say it... Please, take a chair and return to me with it, okay? I want you to sit, it will be hard for you."

May, who started to have bad feelings about this, took the nearest chair and sat on it. Delia looked in the eyes of the brunette, and started to cry.

"Before I say what happened, I want to invite you and your family to a funeral. It will be in two days from now, and I really want you all to be there"

"Okay, we will come... but what is going on?! Whose funeral is it? Please tell me" the girl asked, slightly frightened by the woman`s behavior.

"It`s hard for me to even talk about this..." Delia started to cry again. "May... Ash is dead."


	2. Chapter 2

"May...Ash is dead"

At this moment May`s heart nearly stopped beating.

"W...what?" the girl asked, stuttering like crazy.

"My little boy is dead..." Delia hid her face in her hands. "The police found him in Lumiose City, although they don`t know what happened to him, they consider... suicide... I`m sorry, I can`t..." and Delia dissapeared from the screen. It was obvious that she was in great pain, and her state proved perfectly that the news she was saying before were true.

Despite the fact that the call had ended, May was still looking at the screen, holding a hand close to her heart, which really started to beat in a really slow pace. It hit her after a minute.

 _Ash is dead._

The brunette quickly hid her another hand in one of her pockets, only to pull out her most important object: a half of Teracotta Ribbon. When she and Ash used to travel together, they participated in a contest in Teracotta City. They both made it to the final (although it was Ash`s first contest) and it resulted in a draw between them. They splitted the ribbon, which became the symbol of their friendship. Tears started to flow rapidly down her face, when she clenched her fist on her treasure.

 _He is really dead._

Not being able to control herself, she started to kick the videophone in clear fury. Many cables and parts were visible as May destroyed the machine, she was doing it for couple of minutes. She stopped when she noticed that nothing remained of it. Only huge parts of metal and broken glass were lying in videophone`s place.

"May, what the heck is going on?!" Max rushed out of his room when he heard a loud noice. He found his sister right in front of the videophone, or, what remained of it. She wasn`t paying attention to him, or anything else in the world. Max ran to her and started to shake her hand to bring her back to reality.

"May, talk to me! Come on, what happened?!" he begged her, nearly crying. He noticed her wet face, so it must have been something terrible that made May destroy something as huge as the videophone. His sister slowly turned her head to him, not changing her expression. Max looked deep in her eyes: they were filled with pain. Pain and loss.

"May, please..."

"Ash" she mumbled silently; at that moment her eyes closed.

* * *

 **Note #945**

 _Dear diary,_

 _It`s been two days since I learned about Ash`s death. I can`t remember much about the moment when Delia told me about it, because, according to what Max said, I lost my consciousness a few minutes after I started to talk to her. And If he didn `t catch me in time, I would be lying on hospital bed now._

 _But anyways, today is the funeral. I don`t know. I still feel very weak. But, who wouldn`t be strenghtless after being in coma for two days? I woke up just in time to leave Petalburg for a ferry to Pallet. My parents, especially my mother, wanted me to stay at home, but I couldn`t miss my last chance to say goodbye to Ash, could I? We had a little argument about it, and now no one wants to talk to one another, but I think that it was worth it._

 _Right now we`re in the middle of our journey. If I am right, we`re swimming through the Orange Islands, an archipelago between Hoenn and Kanto. Soon we will stop here for a break, so I`ll be able to write more about it soon._

* * *

 **Note #946**

 _Dear diary,_

 _We are back on the ferry. During an hour-long break I was able to see how beautiful are those islands. I can see why Ash chose them for his second destination in his journey all-around the world. Speaking of Ash..._

 _When I left the ship, I decided to go to the shop to buy some water. With my current state, it wouldn`t be very smart to not drink anything, especially when the sun makes the air so hot. But back to the main topic: when I was about to go inside, I noticed, that near the entrance of this shop a big exhibition had place. I`m not very interested in this kind of things, but I had nothing to do anyway. And guess what? It was about the most respectful trainers that have ever been in Orange Archipelago. I was able to examine all of those trainers and, which isn`t much surprise, I couldn`t recognize any of them._

 _But the last of them, who was also listed as the best trainer, nearly made me fell unconscious again. There was a photo of a young raven-haired trainer with his Pikachu. I thought that I was hallucinating, but it was him. It was Ash. So, even when he was still so unexperienced, he was able to achieve something. And people here were treating him like a real legend._

 _According to the inscription that was written under the photo, he was the only trainer who was able to beat Drake, the champion of Orange League. There was also a screen, on which, after pressing a button, you could see a video. It showed a battle between a Dragonite and a Pikachu, which was Ash`s, of course. When I saw how the little mouse was able to take down the giant dragon, I started to cry again. I cried because I knew, that I won`t be able to see any of Ash`s battles again._

 _Although I`m trying to stay calm, deep inside I am devastated. I can`t explain how I feel exactly, because it isn`t even possible, but I know that I`m not ready to go to the funeral. But I must, it`s the last thing I can do for Ash._

 _Okay, I`m going to take a nap, because I`m having a giant headache right now, probably after crying out so much tears. I`ll write something after the funeral._

* * *

The funeral itself was one of the saddest ones that ever had place in Pallet Town. Over hundred of people came to say goodbye to the winner of Kalos League. There were all of his closest friends, and it wasn`t a big surprise that most of them were females. But it wasn`t time to examine who came here, and May knew that. She sat close to Delia, who was sitting in one of the farthest benches in church. Although Ash`s mother prefered to be alone, she greeted May with a tight hug. Through the ceremony both of them weren`t able to stop crying.

Then, it was the time to bury the coffin with Ash`s body. May decided to look at her friend for the last time in her life, although Brock warned her, that maybe it isn`t the best idea, according to her state. When she still insisted to go, Brock decided to follow her, for her own security.

They entered a giant, dark room, in which Ash was lying. As May started to approach the coffin slowly, she was able to see more and more. When she was two meters from Ash, she could see his immovable body in all its glory. His arms were crossed on his chest, and he was still wearing his Kalos outfit. His eyes were closed, and his mouth wasn`t making any expresion. But it was definitely Ash - he even had his characteristic "Z"s above his cheeks.

May started to weep, falling slowly on her knees. She didn`t say anything, and she would probably stay there and weep more, if Brock didn`t pull her up to get her out of the room. Soon, some men walked in to move the coffin to the outside. After some prayers from clergyman the same men lowered it to a hole. Soon, there was only a stone slab. With Ash`s name and surname on it.

May, who stopped crying already, stood above the grave a bit longer than everyone else. Her look was locked on the stone plate. She was starting to remember all of her adventures with Ash, but suddenly, someone poked her on her back. May turned around and saw her blue-haired friend from Sinnoh - Dawn.

"Hello" May said silently to her friend.

"Hi May" the blunette smiled weakly and hugged May. "I heard about what happened to you; are you sure that you feel alright?"

"Even if I`not feeling good, I couldn`t miss the last chance to see Ash" May responded. Dawn frowned; she realized that May was more affected by Ash`s death than she was. Eyes of the brunette were still red, and she didn`t even try to put any make-up. Speaking simply: she looked like something the cat brought in.

"It`s very hard to believe that he passed away, isn`t it?" Dawn asked. She also used to travel with Ash, and he had a huge impact on her life. "Heck, I still remember our last high-five as if it was yesterday..."

May didn`t respond. She decided that it will be better to stay silent for at least minute.

"Do the police know who did this?" May asked after a short silence.

"They have their own theory, and I think that it`s the most possible one" Dawn said. "I talked to Officer Jenny, and she insisted that it was a suicide. She wouldn`t listen to me even when I said that I was talking to him three days ago and he wasn`t looking like someone who is about to end his own life soon. But that`s the only possible thing. Ash had some enemies, but I don`t think that they would be able to do such a thing."

"Dawn?" May asked shyly. "Do you think that the man, who achieved his dream recently, would do something like that? He had no reasons to do that!"

"I would want to believe that he didn`t commit suicide, May" Dawn sighed. "But there are proofs for that, and you know, we haven`t seen him in real for nearly 4 years. Maybe he was hiding something from us, you can`t say everything through video call."

"But don`t you think that, for example, Team Rocket wouldn`t have an interest in getting rid of him? And not only them" May wasn`t giving up. "Remember, he took down so many evil organizations, it is possible that some leftovers wanted to take their revenge on him!"

"It is possible May" Dawn agreed. "But officially, Team Rocket, and all the other evil teams don`t exist anymore. And I doubt that the police will search that deep for proofs."

"Yeah, you`re probably right Dawn..." May mumbled. She stopped walking and looked back at the cemetery. "Can you go back to Delia`s house without me? I feel that I must come back there... for a few minutes."

Dawn nodded in understatement. Two girls parted their ways and May entered the cemetery once more. She sat on a bench near Ash`s grave.

"You know, I still can`t believe that you are gone, Ash" May said slyly through tears. "You know, it still feels like it was yesterday when we met in Hoenn for the first time" she giggled. "We were both so young back there..."

She made a pause after this. Memories of her time with the trainer started to flashback in front of her eyes. The moment, when she nearly broke Professor`s vase while she was spying on Ash, the moment when she "forced" him to agree to travel with her, the moment when she earned her first ribbon, the moment when she treated Ash like a garbage before her contest battle and then he came to comfort her, like if nothing happened. And finally, their battle in Terracotta Town.

It was too much for the girl. She hid her face in her hands and started to cry even more.

"You were always here for me when I needed help, I... I`m sorry that I couldn`t do the same f-for you" May stuttered.

"I... I`m sorry... that I couldn`t save you, Ash" she weeped silently, not looking at the stone slab.

Suddenly, something started to snarl near her. May jumped in shock and started to look around her to locate the source of this weird noise. But there was nothing.

Then, she heard it again. She turned to Ash`s grave, and then her eyes widened in terror.

Something started to move under the stone slab. May was in much shock and she couldn`t run away, she could only watch as something started to slowly crawl off the grave...


	3. Chapter 3

May was too scared to react to the scene that was occurring right in front of her. A stone slab, which was a part of her friend`s grave, started to shake like crazy, and something tried to shake it off the rest of the grave. After a minute this weird anomaly started to growl, which stressed May even more. The poor girl hid behind the bench, which was situated in front of the grave, but she knew that it wasn`t the best place to hide. Especially when you don`t know from what are you hiding.

May closed her eyes and covered them with her hands to not see what was going to happen, but when the weird sounds has ended, her curiousness overshadowed her enormous fear. She carefully poked her head up in the right direction. Everything was looking quite normal, like if nothing was happening here only a few minutes ago. Still aware, May stood up on her legs and looked around. She was still alone on the cemetery, so there was no one to tell her if she was only having some kind of hallucinations, which could occur thanks to her despair after losing a friend. The brunette touched her forehead with her hand to check her temperature.

"Maybe it`s because of some kind of illness" she thought, hoping that it would be it.

Sadly, her forehead was cold, so there was no way that she had any hallucinations. The brunette sat on the bench, still holding her head in search for any hint of heat on it. She was so confused that she didn`t notice that the stone slab was raised by an unknown force and thrown somewhere outside of the cemetery. When May had turned her head to the scenery, she froze in place once more.

There was a hole in the grave, from which anyone could easily see a coffin, in which Ash`s body was lying.

Now it was open and empty inside.

May gasped and covered her mouth with her hands to not shout in fear. She wasn`t prepared for this kind of stuff, especially after losing her best friend so recently. Sadly, fate wasn`t going easy on her this day.

Something started to growl again. May noticed a limb, which was very similar to human`s arm. It clutched onto the grave and started to pull up the rest of the body. When May noticed a familiar hat on "its" head, she nearly lost her consciousness.

Here he was, Ash Ketchum, trying to get out of his own grave. His skin was pale and he was looking like a some kind of zombie. May closed her eyes once more and braced herself for whatever was coming next. But nothing happened, except for a small flash of light and a sound, which could be mistaken for a sound of a jelly landing on the ground.

May slowly opened her eyes and gasped, but now from the surprise. In front of her something was standing, but it was clearly visible that it wasn`t Ash. To be more accurate, it wasn`t even a person. This creature looked like a Pokemon. It was purple-colored and not very big, and looked like a huge jelly. It was wearing a red bandanna on its neck, or, in the place where its neck was supposed to be. The thing looked at May and panicked. It said something very silently and suddenly disappeared, leaving only a small object on the ground.

May, who had seen all of this, was only blankly staring on the ground, specifically on the object. She stood up, and with shaking legs she was able to come closer to the grave, so she could look at it better. There was no trace of a body anymore. The brunette turned her head to the object once more and she picked it up with her hand. She looked at it, and she quickly noticed that it was a ribbon. But the design of it wasn`t very familiar to May. She hid it in one of her pockets and stood up, barely being able to stand still.

"I don`t know… I don`t know what the heck happened here, but I must tell the others about it" she muttered under her nose and with a slow pace, she started to head back to Delia`s house.

* * *

Everyone were sitting in the garden, where Delia prepared a dinner for some of the guests. There were only people, whom she considered to be the closest friend of her son. She was expecting a lot of people, but she was still amazed by the amount of friends Ash was able to meet on his journey.

Brock was sitting at the edge of the table, next to him Gary, Cilan, Clemont and Max were sitting. Three of them were too consumed into a talk to notice that a purple-haired boy walked towards them and sat next to Gary.

" _He must be Paul"_ Delia thought. When Ash came back from Sinnoh, he explained the whole situation with Paul to her. She knew about this boy`s behavior towards Ash, but she also knew how he was able to change. Delia was proud that her son contributed to this a little.

Right after Paul two other men were coming. One of them was wearing a band on his head and was much younger than the other one, whose gray hair were shining in the light of the sun. Tracey and Professor Oak both had very sad expressions, and they sat next to Paul without saying anything.

On the other side of the table girls were sitting. Most of them were already on their places: Misty tried to talk to Iris, but it was visible that they weren`t ever going to be best friends. Dawn tried to comfort Bonnie, the sister of Clemont, who was still crying, but with no luck. Even Melody came here, which was a surprise to both Misty and Brock. After her the last person came to Delia`s house, and it was Korrina, the Gym Leader of Shalour City from Kalos. She was the only one who, instead of sitting down, leaned on the nearest tree and crossed her hands on her chest, looking at the ground with sadness.

When Delia Ketchum made sure that there were everyone, she walked out of the house into the garden and coughed loudly, to let everyone know about her presence. Almost immediately all of the conversations were stopped, and over a dozen pairs of eyes turned in her direction. Delia sighed and made a sad smile, while looking at the people in front of her.

"Hello everyone" she said weakly. "Thank you for coming here today. I only wanted to say that… it means so much for me" she made a pause to shake off some tears off her face. "I`m sure that if Ash was still with us, he would appreciate that you all came here for him."

"No problem Mrs. Ketchum" Tracey said with a smile. Everyone nodded in agreement. No one was going to say anything more, simply because of their sadness. But there was one person, who decided to speak up.

"Umm… excuse me, if it`s not the best moment, but… did someone see my sister?" Max asked with a worry in his voice. Everyone started to look around them, and it became pretty obvious, that May wasn`t there.

"I saw her when we were on the cemetery. She wanted to stay to… say goodbye to Ash" Dawn said, but on the last part of the sentence she stuttered a little.

"Well, we left the cemetery an hour ago, so maybe we should go look for her" Brock said. "I saw the state in which she was, and I think that she shouldn`t be left alone for a long time, especially now."

"Okay, I`ll go" Gary stood up from his chair, not noticing that everyone looked somewhere behind Delia. But after a few seconds he also looked in this direction. And so did Delia.

When Ash`s mother noticed the look on May`s face, she quickly rushed to her and caught her, just in time to not let her fall. She hugged the brunette and looked her in the eyes.

"Delia…?" May asked shyly. "I… I just saw something really weird."

* * *

"So" Brock said. "You`re telling us, that you saw that the grave exploded, and something started to crawl out of it?."

Everyone gathered in the living room, where May was lying. She was very weak and barely conscious, but she was able to tell the story to the others. Everyone were looking at her with big eyes, but no one said anything.

"I swear that it`s true Brock!" May said loudly. Just by seeing his face she could say that he didn`t believe her. "I saw Ash there… And then, there was a flash of light, and a small purple creature appeared on his place. Then, it teleported somewhere and left this" the brunette pulled out a ribbon, which she had took from the cemetery. Korrina grabbed it in her hands and examined it closely.

"It`s a ribbon from Kalos, I can say just by looking at it" she informed. "Two years ago there were a few contests in Kalos, and it looks like it was a prize from one of them, but what is it doing here, in Pallet Town?"

"I don`t know" Brock said. "According to what May said about the creature, it probably was a Pokemon. And if it looked like a jelly, it could be a Ditto" with those words he pulled out a Pokedex and started to search for an image of it. When he found it, he showed it to May. "Is this what you have seen earlier?"

"Yes, now I`m sure that I`ve seen a Ditto." May said.

"Well, Ditto is known for its ability to transform. I saw that it can change into a Pokemon, but honestly, I`ve never seen a Ditto transforming into a human" Brock said and looked at May. "And you said that it disappeared, right?" after receiving a nod from the girl, he thought a bit and responded. "So this Ditto must have learnt a move, which is called Teleport. That`s quite weird, because I didn`t know that Dittos can even learn it!"

"Because they can`t" Professor Oak spoke for the first time. "Dittos can only use Teleport when they transform into a Pokemon that can use this move, and if you`re insisting that it transformed into a human and then, used a Teleport in its normal form… It`s quite unusual, if you ask me."

"But what was Ditto doing in the coffin?" Bonnie asked, not really understanding what was happening.

"I don`t know" Brock said. "But, I know that we must go check the grave when May will feel better, I must see it by myself to believe in such a story"

After hearing it, May moved on the couch and sat on it, trying to get up.

"I`m okay, let`s go now" she said without thinking twice.

"I`m not sure about it, just look at yourself" Brock said with a worry, but Paul walked toward him and smirked.

"That won`t be a problem, I`ll cover her so she won`t fall on the ground. Now let`s go, I want to take a look at this scene." A few people, who knew Paul the best, were shocked by his behavior, because he wasn`t the guy who would offer help to anyone. But Brock nodded and commanded everyone to walk out of the house.

* * *

"Well…" Misty started. "I`m not sure what you saw here May, but the only thing I can see here is a normal looking grave, covered by a giant stone slab."

The red-haired girl was right, to May`s surprise: everything was in it`s place, and it looked like nothing happened here. May opened her mouth in disbelief and looked at the grave, then back at her friends. She could not believe that there were no signs of the weird event from the morning.

"May, honey, maybe you just fell asleep here and it was only a dream?" Delia asked, slightly worried about the girl.

"Nononono, I swear that it was all truth! Just look!" and with those words she waked to the grave. She started to point at the places where the creature was standing , and where the ribbon was lying, but it was all pointless; the truth was that the grave was still standing there, untouched.

"May, I understand that today was very exhausting for you…" Brock tried to calm the girl down, but she only looked at him with an angry expression.

"I`m sure that I`ve seen all of this! I have a ribbon to prove it!" and she showed him the mysterious ribbon. "What do you think was it doing on the ground?"

"I don`t know, maybe one of the guests on the funeral lost it, and you were only dreaming about all of this" Max suggested.

"So, no one believes me?" May was devastated. Everyone shook their heads, proving to her that her story didn`t convince them.

"May, you must let it go, Ash… Ash won`t return to us-" Brock was stopped in the mid of the sentence by a loud slap on the face. He became silent and started to rub his cheek in pain, while looking at a raised hand in front of him. It as May`s hand.

"And you consider yourself as his best friend?" she asked angrily. "If you do, you should realize that something isn`t right. Ash wasn`t a person who would just kill himself if he had any problem, so why would he do such a thing now?! Without saying a proper goodbye to us?! And why the police didn`t want to analyze this?! Huh?!"

Everyone remained silent. Brock just hid his face in his hands. May stood up from him and looked at the sky above her.

"I can sense that something isn`t right, and that wasn`t Ash who we were burying here" May spoke. "This Ditto must have transformed into Ash, and then, after the ceremony, it broke free and teleported somewhere. I don`t know why everything here is on its place, but the real Ash is alive. I don`t know where, but I can sense it here" she turned to her friends with tears in her eyes and she pointed on her heart. The brunette hoped that her monologue would change the minds of her friends, but…

"May, I really want to believe in what you`re saying, but… I can`t, I`m sorry" Brock also stood up from the ground, still holding one of his hands on the aching cheek. Everyone walked to Brock, to show that they had the same opinion as him. Only Paul remained in his place, since he was standing under one of the trees.

May couldn`t believe in what she heard. After all of that, after all of the great adventures with Ash, they were really going to give up on him so easily? Did he mean so little to them?

Dawn tried to comfort May by resting her hand on the brunette`s shoulder, but May quickly shook it off and looked at the people in front of her.

"So, you`re really giving up on him. Fine" the coordinator from Hoenn turned around and looked at she sky once more. "I will search for him alone, and I will find him. I promise you, that you will be apologizing, but not to me, but to Ash, for leaving him like that."

She looked at them once more, and started to head to Delia`s house alone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Note #947**

 _Dear diary,_

 _Yesterday was probably the weirdest day of my entire life. First, I learned that it wasn`t Ash whom we were burying. After what I saw on the cemetery no one is going to change my point of view at this situation. Because it doesn`t happen very often that Ditto, which is in human`s form, crawls out of the grave and transforms into its normal form, then teleports no one knows where, and drops a ribbon from Kalos. Then everything comes back to normal, and no one believes in my story._

 _My friends don`t want to even think about the possibility that Ash is still alive. They accepted his death so easily… I feel like I`m the only one who wants to learn the truth. I don`t want to suggest anything… but it looks like they don`t care about Ash anymore._

 _After I left everyone on the cemetery yesterday, I returned to Delia`s house and closed myself in one of her guests rooms. Through all the evening I was thinking about what to do next. I know that if I decide to investigate this case, I`ll have to do it alone, but to be honest, it doesn`t discourage me. I`m sure that my best friend is alive somewhere, and I only need to find him._

 _Although I know what everyone is going to say about it, before I go I still must talk to a few people that should have some important information. At this point, I don`t even know where to start._

 _But enough of writing, at least for now. Delia called me for breakfast a while ago, and I can`t think properly with an empty stomach._

* * *

May put her diary back on the table and looked at the clock. It was 9AM, so most of Delia`s guests must have eaten already. May wasn`t very eager to talk to anyone after what happened yesterday, but she knew that she must be calm and get some information. The brunette sighed and stood up from her bed, then, she started to gather her clothes, which she threw on the floor last night. She got changed quickly and walked down the stairs in kitchen`s direction. She wasn`t expecting anyone to be there, but when she entered the kitchen, she spotted two people still sitting at the table. Two people, to whom she really wanted to talk last night.

Clemont and Bonnie were still eating when May came, and they didn`t notice her arrival, enjoying their conversation. Clemont turned to the brunette when he heard a sound of moved chair. He smiled to her, and so did Bonnie. It didn`t look like they were uneasy with her presence, and that relieved May a little.

"Good morning May" Clemont said. "How was your night?"

"Err... I would be lying if I said that it was very good, the coach on which I was sleeping wasn`t very comfortable" May responded with a goofy grin, massaging her aching neck.

"You can take my bed if you want!" Bonnie happily offered. May smiled at the girl, but shook her head, hinting that she didn`t want it.

"I`m leaving today, so it won`t be necessary. But thanks for your offer"

May looked at them again and lowered her eyes, focusing on the table. The brunette sighed, knowing that she had to stop this enjoyable conversation and move onto the topic she wanted to discuss.

"You see… the truth is that I wanted to talk to both of you before I leave" May said and looked at the siblings. The quizzical looks, which they gave her, made her sigh again.

"I wanted to talk to you about Ash. As far as I know, you were travelling with him in Kalos. So, I hoped that maybe you know what happened to him, what forced him to do… you know" May looked at them with a poker face. Despite the feeling that her friends was alive, she still wasn`t sure how to talk about him. Clemont looked at Bonnie, who nodded her head, and turned to the brunette.

"Okay, I think that we should tell you. I assume, that you aren`t heading straight back to Hoenn?" he asked. May shook her head in response, and Clemont giggled. "Heheh, I knew it. But before I say anything, you must know something: to be honest, we aren`t exactly sure what happened to him, because we weren`t travelling with him this year. Our journey ended two years ago, and we weren`t seeing each other very often."

"Two years ago?" May said, shocked. "But he won the league in this year… Wait, you`re saying, that…"

"Yup. He was taking part in Kalos League three years in a row" Clemont informed. "When he first advanced to the tournament, he lost in the final to his rival, Alain. He tried to hide his rage, but he eventually said that he isn`t going to another region. He was so desperate to win a grand tournament and accomplish his dreams that he even decided to split up with us to have more time to train himself and his Pokemon. We said our farewells, and then Bonnie and I came back to our home. Next year, Ash lost again in the final, to some unknown trainer. You know, he was devastated after this, but he managed to try once more. And in this year he managed to win the league, but he lost to the Kalos Champion. To be honest, I wouldn`t be surprised If he had depression before… you know."

"Was there someone else travelling with you? I`m sure that I`ve heard that you were travelling with another girl" May asked.

"We were also travelling with a girl from Kalos, her name is Serena. She should know much more than us, because she followed him even after we returned to Lumiose City. I also know that they had an argument a year ago, and since then they weren`t in touch. But she should know something, maybe she has any clues."

"And she had a crush on Ash!" Bonnie added without thinking twice. She received a hard look from Clemont.

"Bonnie, you shouldn`t say things like that, we`re not even sure if…"

"Clemy, please, it was obvious that she was in love with him. You and Ash were too dense to realize that. She put so much effort to make Ash notice her, she even told him about her feelings after we left."

"How do you know about this, Bonnie?" May was surprised that this little kid was able to gain "this" kind of information.

"I talked to her after she left Ash in his second year in Kalos" Bonnie explained. "I promised her, that I won`t say it to anyone, but under the circumstances…" Bonnie saddened. May decided that the little girl had enough and smiled to the siblings.

"Okay, I think that`s enough. Thank you both, you were a big help" May said and stood up from the table. "I think that I`ll go pack my belongings, I`m going to set off on my journey today."

"No problem, I`m glad that we could help you, but if you don`t mind, where are you going by ship?" Clemont asked.

"To Kalos, of course" May said. "Maybe you want to go with me?"

"I`d love to, but we promised Korrina that we will come back with her. We have already bought tickets and our plane takes off in three days" Clemont explained.

"Okay, I understand. I hope we`ll see again very soon?" May asked with a playful wink.

"Of course, if you will ever be near Lumiose City, feel free to visit us in Prism Tower" Bonnie said happily.

"I`ll remember that, bye!" May waved to the siblings and came back to her room. She packed her clothes and cosmetics, but before she left the house, she remembered about one important thing. She took her half of Terracota Ribbon and pinned it to her black jacket. When she made sure that it`s not going to fall off, she said her goodbyes to everyone, even Brock (whose cheek was still a bit red) and started to walk to the forest surrounding Pallet Town, when Mrs. Ketchum caught her arm and pulled her in a hug. She started to sob quietly, which scared May a little, but eventually Delia looked into May eyes and smiled.

"I know that I won`t be able to change your mind, so the only thing I can say now, is… thank you. Although I`m not sure about this "Ditto accident", I know that my Ash wouldn`t leave us like that" Delia released May and wiped off some tears from her eyes. "Bring him back to me, will you?"

"I will Delia, I will" May assured the woman and waved to her while she was entering the forest.

The brunette was too focused on Delia, so she didn`t realize that a mysterious girl was observing her for about five minutes, and when May disappeared into the woods, she started to follow the coordinator.

* * *

"Okay, my ship to Kalos swims off at 9pm, so I still have a big amount of time to spare. What time is it now…?" May looked at her watch, but before she could focus on it, someone caught her arm. The surprised girl tried to break the grip, but she wasn`t able to do so. She quickly turned back to fight with the mysterious man and before she knew it, her fist landed directly on the man`s cheek. May jumped from him and turned to him to see, that the person she punched seconds ago was very familiar.

"Paul?" May asked, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Don`t you see? I`m rubbing my cheek" Paul grunted. "It wasn`t necessary to react like that, you know?"

"I`m sorry, I didn`t know that it was you, couldn`t you just shout to me to stop? I would wait for you and it wouldn`t end that way" May apologized. She surely wouldn`t consider Paul to go after her. When she met him for the first time, he wasn`t very talkative. She had a conversation with Dawn about the boy, and she learned that he was Ash`s rival in Sinnoh. According to what the bluenette said, he was even worse back in Sinnoh. Luckily, when Ash beat him in Sinnoh League, Paul`s behavior changed drastically. May didn`t want to know how horrible he was before "the great change".

"I could shout, but I didn`t want to strain my voice" Paul smirked, but immediately hissed as he started to feel pain in his cheek again. May shook her head in annoyance and turned to go away from him, but after a minute she turned around, only to see Paul following her.

"Excuse me, but why are you going after me anyway? I don`t think that we are going in the same direction, and…"

"Listen, uhh…" Paul lowered his sight at the ground, acting, like if he was thinking about the correct answer to the question. "I`ve heard about what happened to you yesterday and I must say, that I`m quite curious about it."

"But I thought that you were standing with everyone…" May said, but Paul just laughed. When May raised her eyebrow, he looked at her with annoyance, knowing that she didn't understood.

"You were too focused on your slant-eyed friend to notice that I`ve been standing under a tree, in the middle of you and the crowd? I didn`t want to take any side, because I needed some time to think about it."

"And…?"

"And I decided to go with you to Kalos" Paul explained. "I want to know where is Ash. Maybe I was at the funeral and I saw the body, but I know that he was too tough to end like this. He is a kind of man who wouldn`t just kill himself because he didn`t become the champion."

"Yeah, he knew that he would hurt so many people" May nodded. Paul snorted and started to walk away. May followed him and stopped in front of him, with an angry look on her face.

"What was that?" She asked, enraged.

"The snort? Ehm, it`s not important, if I said it to you, we would argue for another hour."

"I have some time to spare anyway" May said nonchalantly, looking at her watch. "It`s 10AM, so we have eleven hours."

"Maybe, but I wanted to visit one person before we go. She lives not too far away from here and I`m sure that she has some information that can be the key to solve this mystery." Paul said and closed his eyes, still rubbing his aching cheek in the meanwhile. May shrugged and turned away from him to focus on the road. But the only thing she saw there was a cloud of smoke. A cloud, that was quickly closing its distance to them.


	5. Chapter 5

„Look out!" Paul yelled as he pushed May away from the road. A sudden sandstorm stroke him and he flied away with it. May tried to help him, but without any luck. After several seconds she started to feel dizzy from the sand that was making its way into her nose and eyes. Suddenly, everything stopped and the brunette was able to see properly again. But she wasn`t happy with what she saw.

In front of her, a giant robot was standing. It was based on Sandslash, but unlike the Pokemon, it had giants cannons instead of arms. After a closer look, May noticed that its eyes were made of glass, and behind the glass she saw four shadows, two looking like humans and two Pokemon-like. The robot opened its mouth and a megaphone stretched out of it.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To…"

"CAN`T YOU JUST STOP STALKING PEOPLE?!" a loud yell caused the robot to flinch. It lowered his head and looked at the brunette, who was standing three meters from its leg. She was staring at it with fury in her eyes and a Pokeball in her hand. Without hesitation, she threw it at the ground and released Blaziken, her starter Pokemon.

"YOU CAME TO THE WRONG PLACE" May yelled. "YOU ATTACKED THE WRONG PEOPLE AT THE WRONG TIME."

She raised her hand and pointed out at one of the eyes of the robot. It was hearable that the people in the giant Sandslash gulped out of fear. No wonder, the tone of May`s voice was indeed very scary. Full of hate and bloodlust.

"And now you will pay for it..." she added quietly. "BLAZIKEN, BLAZE KICK ON THE EYES!"

The Pokemon nodded and quickly jumped highly in the air. It landed on the nose of the robot and kicked both pieces of glass with an unbelievable power. When the shards fell down, Blaziken noticed two people and two Pokemon inside. He recognized them easily and without May`s command, he used the biggest Flamethrower it had ever used. It literally fried Team Rocket, and overloaded the system, which resulted in a giant explosion. Blaziken landed on the ground and guarded May from the flames.

"Well… I don`t think I want to mess with you anytime in the future…" Paul said to himself while he was trying to stand up, but without much success.

"Are you okay?" May asked with worry when she made her way to him. Paul rubbed his head and hissed in pain.

"I`ve been better" the boy responded. He looked at all of the fallen trees around him. "Hey, don`t you think that you`ve been a little too rough for them?"

"Are you serious?! They were trying to steal my Pokemon, as always!" May answered angrily. "How could I not react like that? Moreover, they are, you know, BAD PEOPLE, and I did a favor to everyone in this region."

"Just beating up the evil people doesn`t make you better than them" Paul pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess you have a point…" May mumbled quietly. She turned around and noticed the state of the battlefield. Pieces of the robot were lying everywhere, and under one of them she noticed three bodies: two people and a Pokemon, which, instead of blue color was all black now.

"Are they… dead?" Paul asked. May looked briefly at them and shook her head.

"Nah, they are someway indestructible" she said. She extended her hand, which Paul got hold of, and, with some problems, he managed to stand up. After a few minutes he was able to stand on his own.

"So…" May asked, while looking at the ground. "Where are we heading?"

"I suppose you remember Annabel, one of the Frontier Brains, right?" Paul asked. May nodded hesitantly. "So, you should know what is so special about her."

"She`s psychic" May pointed out. "So…?"

"So I think that she may be able to tell us something about Ash. Back in Sinnoh, he told me that they became friends at some point, so maybe she can tell us if he`s really alive" Paul answered. May nodded and turned to the battlefield, where she noticed two burned people, who were standing near her and Paul. They had angry expressions on their faces and it was looking like they were about to attack.

"Do you think that you have already won the battle? No one will stop us, especially some stupid brats!" James spat.

"You and your Pokemon are too weak to even hurt us, just like the twerp`s. I`m not surprised that he killed himself, he was pathetic" Jessie said with enormous pride. But her great mood didn`t stay great for long. It disappeared completely when she looked at May`s face. To put it mildly, the girl`s face was full of hate.

"Well… Forget about what I said earlier May" Paul prepared his fists. "Let`s crush those maggots"

But before they could do anything, a massive red and white creature appeared on the sky and roared loudly. The dragon-like Pokemon looked at the scenery in the forest and launched at the Rockets, hitting into them and blasting them off in the process. The creature landed on the ground, in front of shocked May and Paul.

"What… is this?" Paul asked, slightly confused.

"I know this Pokemon" May said. "I think… its name is Latias"

The Pokemon nodded and turned its back to them. May was confused by the action, but she immediately noticed something on its back. There was some kind of sachet. The Pokemon shook it off itself and moved it near May`s feet with its head. May hesitantly took the sachet in her hands and opened it. The only thing that was there was a photo in very bad condition. It looked like it was cut from a newspaper a couple of years ago. May looked at it closely and nearly dropped it in shock. Paul didn`t know what was going on, so he made his way to her and also looked at the photo. His reaction was quite the same.

"It`s a photo of Ash… what the heck?" Paul asked. May looked at the Pokemon, which visibly saddened after hearing the name of the trainer. May looked at the picture and at the Pokemon once again. Then, something clicked in her head.

"Wait a minute… Ash travelled with Brock and Misty before he met me and my brother in Hoenn."

"By saying the name Misty, you mean the red-haired girl from Cerulean?" Paul asked.

"Yes, exactly that one. They took a trip to Alto Mare, where he met Latios and Latias…" she said. "Are you the Latias from Alto Mare?"

The Pokemon nodded. May put the photo back in the sachet and looked at the Pokemon.

"So, what do you want from us?" she asked. Latias pointed at the sachet with her head.

"Does it have something to do with Ash?" May asked. Latias nodded once again. Paul growled loudly.

"You know, normally I love riddles, but right now we are in a hurry" Paul said, turning around. "May, let`s go, we must get to Anabel soon"

Before May could answer, Latias started glowing and a girl appeared on its place. She was wearing a green skirt and had brown hair. The girl caught Paul`s arm and didn`t let him go.

"What the…" Paul didn`t end his sentence because the girl forced him to sit on the ground. After that she took away the photo of Ash from May and pointed at the raven-haired boy. Then, she pointed on both Paul and May. When they still seemed like they didn`t know what she meant, she became visibly angry and walked up to May. Latias put her hand on May`s waist and took out a Pokeball, pointing it at herself.

"Wait, you want me to catch you?" May asked. Latias nodded. "But why?"

"Damn, did she just change into a human and pinned me down to the ground?" Paul growled. After standing up he looked at Latias with a curious look. "She must have heard our conversation earlier" Paul suggested, scratching his head. "I don`t have any good explanation, but I think that she wants to…" he looked at the Pokemon in-human-form. "Find Ash with us?" he asked. Latias happily nodded and turned back into her normal form. May looked at the Pokeball and smiled.

"Okay Latias, if that`s what you want, then I am happy to catch you. Pokeball, go!" May blurted out and threw a Pokeball at Latias. It hit the Pokemon`s head, but only bounced back and fell on the ground. It started rolling in the battlefield`s direction and stopped at something. There was a flash of light and May realized that she caught something different from Latias. Both humans and a dragon-type made their way to the Pokeball and May carefully released the creature she had just caught. A burned and unconscious Meowth appeared on the ground.

"You must be kidding me…" Paul facepalmed.

"Eeehh…" May mumbled. "Well, that wasn`t exactly what I had planned, but… At least I have a new Pokemon?" she asked herself with a fake smile on her face, not knowing what to think about that.

While they were standing and just looking at the cat-like, Meowth regained consciousness and opened his eyes. He looked at the people around him and it didn`t take him much time to recognize them.

"WAAAH!" he shouted and jumped back.

"Hey, relax" Paul said. "As much as I`m not delighted to say that, you`re now her Pokemon" the purple-haired boy pointed at May. "So stop acting like that and come back into the Pokeball, we don`t have time to fool around with you"

"WHAT? I`VE BEEN CAUGHT?" Meowth yelled. He started to shake in fear, but he quickly calmed down. He looked at May with hate in his eyes and rushed at her with his Fury Swipes.

"I`M NOT GOING TO BE SOME KIND OF PATHETIC TOY FOR YOU, YOU HEAR ME?" he shooted and jumped in the air. "I`M NOT GOING TO…"

And in the exact same moment a white beam of light sucked him back into the Pokeball. Paul facepalmed once again, not believing in what happened.

"Well Latias…" May started, looking goofily at the Pokeball. "Maybe it will be better if you won`t be caught by me, at least for now?" she asked. The Pokemon had the exact look on the face and nodded in understatement.

"Let`s focus on what we must do now, okay?" Paul asked. "Latias, do you know where is the Battle Tower here, in Kanto?" he received a nod. "Excellent, will you be able to take us there? Since you can fly, it would be much faster for us to get to Anabel. And we still have to make it to the ship before it swims off."

Latias frowned at the boy, but after looking at May and the look on her face, the Pokemon nodded in understatement and let the two people sit on her back. Then, she took off in the direction of Anabel`s home. While they were flying above the giant forest, May started to think about Anabel. When she met her, she noticed that Ash and the Frontier Brain bonded really quickly. She must have felt something when it all happened.

"May?" Paul asked. The girl shook of her trance and looked at him. He was sitting in front of her, facing her with his back.

"What`s up?" she asked, trying to sound normal.

"I wanted to ask you about your… relations with Ash."


	6. Chapter 6

"What do you mean by the word 'relations', Paul?" May asked, surprised a bit.

"I want to know how close you were to each other before he 'died'. I already know that you were travelling companions, but maybe you stayed in touch after your journey?"

"Uhm, I don`t know what to say" May said, embarrassed a little. "We were just friends, we haven`t met in person since we did split up in Hoenn. Though we talked with each other from time to time, you know, by videophone…"

"I get it" Paul said. "Maybe you saw him acting weird last time you talked to him?"

"He was nervous, but he had a battle with one of the Elite Four members the following day, so it isn`t a great clue in our case"

"I see…" Paul sighed. "Well, I was hoping that maybe you had noticed something interesting" he focused his gaze on the sky beneath them and fell into a pensive mood. He stayed in this state for a couple of minutes, which made May wonder if he was still alive.

"What have you gotten yourself into, Ketchum…" Paul whispered to himself, but loudly enough for May to hear it.

"Do I hear concern in your voice?" May asked playfully. Paul turned to her and looked at her with a cold glare. If Dawn hadn`t told the brunette about Paul`s great change, she would have been scared as hell right now. But luckily, the blunette was a horrible gossip girl, so May knew a lot about Paul without even meeting him in person.

"Come on, I know that you are not a person you try to act as, Dawn told me some facts about you a while ago" May winked at him, at which he turned around with a red face.

"…How much did she tell you?" he asked without emotion, but still as red as tomato. It looked like he knew that he made a mistake by telling Dawn so much about himself.

"I know, for example, that the two of you travelled together in Johto" May explained.

"Well, it isn`t a secret that I went to Johto with her, but before you say anything else, I want to admit, that I did it only because she was planning to go there by herself. And a young girl on her own has a bigger chance to get into trouble" Paul said. He remained calm as always, but it was visible that he was at least slightly nervous.

"Okay, okay, I believe you" May giggled. "Oh, and she told me about the situation before the Wallace Cup – the one in a hotel room, when she found you in bed with her teddy bear, which…"

"ALRIGHT, that`s enough!" Paul yelled while covering his ears. The sudden sound scared Latias to the point it did a backflip in the air. Both teens barely remained on the Pokemon`s back. When Latias calmed down after May`s ensure that everything was alright, Paul opened his eyes and turned to May with a look of defeat on his face.

"May… can I ask you for something?" he asked.

"Sure, what is it?" May asked.

"After this adventure, remind me to kill Dawn the next time I see her."

* * *

 **Note #948**

 _Dear diary,_

 _So much happened since I had written the last note. I`m still thrilled after the incident at the cemetery, but at least now I know where I should begin my investigation. Right now I`m on my way to Anabel, the Frontier Brain that lives in Battle Tower. The idea to visit her wasn`t mine though. I travel now with Paul, Ash`s rival from Sinnoh. He was the only person to believe me that something wasn`t right about it all and he volunteered to accompany me for a while. It is very encouraging to know that you can rely on someone, especially when everyone else think that you had gone mad._

 _About being mad, I had an encounter with Team Rocket. I was able to defeat them on my own quite easily, but it might have been only because I was infuriated. Not only they attacked me while I was mourning my best friend, but they said some horrible words about him too. Fortunately, they received a punishment for their behavior, but not from me or Paul. It might sound irrational, but from out of nowhere Latias appeared and made them blast off. Then I accidentally caught Meowth, the one from Team Rocket… I still don`t know what to do about him. If I keep him, I will have problems for sure. Jessie and James will try to get him back, and although I am not afraid of them, it might slow me down. Meowth himself also doesn`t want to stay with me, especially in the Pokeball. But on the other hand, he might be useful at some point in my journey… Gah, I need some time to overthink this case._

 _Right now we are on our way to Battle Tower. I had already met Anabel before and I can`t wait to see her again. There is a chance that she may know something more about Ash`s… I don`t know what word should I use: Disappearance? Death? I know too little to choose one of them. But back to the topic: since she is psychic, maybe she will be able to locate where he is? Maybe he contacted her before his "death"? We will see soon._

* * *

"Alright, we`re here" May said as she jumped off Latias`s back.

"I thought that this building would be in better shape, to be honest" Paul exclaimed as he did the same. After a few seconds Latias changed her form and followed them on foot.

May closed her distance to the building and examined it. It was true, the tower was in bad condition. There wasn`t a risk that it would collapse, but neglected windows, much trash outside of the building and overwhelming silence made a really creepy atmosphere. They made their way to the entrance.

"Wait a second, there is a piece of paper hanging on the door…" May said and examined the paper. There was only one word: "Closed"

"Fantastic!" Paul said with irony. "So we came all the way here only to find out that this place is closed?" He became so angry that he took a rock from the ground and threw it at one of the windows. But it never collided with glass.

The rock was just floating in the air two meters from the window. After a while it fell down and from out of nowhere a shriek was heard by the three.

"Okay… what was that?" Paul asked, taking few steps back. They looked around to find the source of the sound, but they found nothing.

Paul scratched his head while trying to think about what to do. The tower seemed to be abandoned, they couldn`t get inside of it because of some mysterious entity that guarded the building. What was even worse, it looked like this creature was invisible. They didn`t know if it was aggressive, so staying here any longer was kind of dangerous.

"Throw the rock once again" May said, breaking him out of the trance.

"What? You saw what happened, it won`t do anything" Paul responded.

"Yes, I know that it won`t break the glass, but it may make this creature come to us" the girl said.

"You think it may help us understand what exactly happened to this place?" Paul asked, not believing in May`s reasoning. "But after thinking about it… we might give it a try" he said. After taking another rock in his hand, he threw it at the same glass panel as earlier. As expected, something caught it and threw away from the building. This time it didn`t end with only a growl. Something appeared behind the three and caught them with Psychic. As the force raised them in the air and turned them to the creature, they realized that it was a Pokemon. Its body was covered with pink fur and was very slim. Its eyes could nearly look through any living thing. Its tail, which was splitted at the end, was moving in fury from left to right.

"Espeon?" Paul asked, trying to get away from the force grip.

"The one that Anabel had" May pointed out, recognizing it quite quickly. When she spoke, something must have clicked in little creature`s head, because it immediately stopped using her attack and when May, Paul and Latias-in-human-form fell to the ground, it crawled slowly to May and laid on her knees, groaning with sadness.

"It doesn`t look very happy to me" Paul said while standing up. He turned to the tower and noticed that the door was now opened. Even the piece of paper disappeared. "It looks like someone finally wants to see us"

"So let`s go, we wasted enough time" May announced and with those words all of them entered the tower.

* * *

The condition of internal part of the building wasn`t any better. Everything was covered with dust and all of the things May had remembered from the tower weren`t on their places. The rooms had no doors and were completely empty, even the battlefield was devastated.

"What happened to this place…?" May asked, very surprised. It looked like it had been abandoned for a long time. It was horrible how this place had changed through only a couple of years.

Paul didn`t answer to his friend`s question. He carefully observed the surroundings, trying to catch any sign of someone being there besides them. The boy walked around the battlefield, but saw nothing worth examining. He came back to May after a few minutes, shaking his head in annoyance.

"There`s nothing interesting May, we are wasting our time. If we miss the ship, which will swim off in six hours, we will have to ask Latias to fly to Kalos, and by looking at her-" in this moment he turned to the Pokemon-in-human-form, which was gazing at him with anger "- I am sure that she won`t fly as far."

May overlooked the place once more and sighed. She hid her hands in the pockets of her jacket and overtook Paul in leaving the battlefield. When Espeon cuddled to her outside of the building, she knew that something odd must have happened. They found no trace of Anabel in there, which was even more confusing, since she used to live there for a long time. The brunette had so many questions: Where was the Salon Maiden? Why Espeon was left here alone by her? She wanted the answers so badly…

When all of them left the tower, Espeon, which since "rock throwing situation" was following May, perked his ears and ran off in some direction. Before May or Paul could do anything, it disappeared from their view. Almost immediately both teens and Latias started to run after it, without sharing any words between them. They ran for about ten minutes until they spotted the Pokemon they were looking for, sitting near the door to a small house under a big tree. The house itself was standing alone on a field of grass; the external part of it was covered with leaves, as if the owner really wanted to hide the building from the world.

"Espeon, what is going on?" May asked, confused. As she ended her question, the door to the house opened with a loud shriek and someone stepped out of the building.

"If you want some answers, you can get them from me"

* * *

"So… If I understood it correctly, you are no longer a Frontier Brain?" Paul asked, taking a cup of tea in his hands. They were sitting in a room that was supposed to be the dining room. The walls were covered with some paintings, imitating oriental style. In opposite to the Battle Tower, this place was well groomed and it`s atmosphere was far more pleasant.

"Exactly" Anabel said after sipping her drink. The Salon Maiden herself didn`t change that much; obviously she was older, but she still looked like her past self, even her clothing was the same. "Two years ago I decided to take a break. My work wasn`t very tough, because there weren`t many trainers that could match other Frontier Brain`s skills, so through most of the time I had nothing to do."

May looked at her with surprise. "So if it wasn`t tiring job, why had you decided to give up on it?"

Anabel giggled and looked at the brunette with sad smile. "I really wanted to travel to some places, and while being a Frontier Brain I couldn`t do so. I had to stay in this place through all my free time. I decided that I had enough, and by some weird coincidence, a few days after my resignation the Tower burned down" she sighed. "It was an accident, the gas installation was defective. Luckily, no one was inside at that moment… That is why it looks like that today. I tried to repair it a bit, but after a few months I left it as it was. Maybe if there was someone to help me with reconstruction it would end differently…" Anabel stopped and looked at the ground, deeply in thought. May and Paul looked at each other with sadness. They realized how lonely Anabel must have felt while living here for such a long time only with her Pokemon.

"Loneliness is a horrible thing, I know how you feel Anabel" May said, sitting closer to the purple-haired woman. "Though I wasn`t alone for as long as you were, I…"

"While you were in Johto, you decided not to travel with your rivals. You wanted to mature on your own and it was quite hard for you. Fortunately, you managed to collect all the ribbons and advance to the semi-finals of the Grand Festival" Anabel said loudly before May could end her sentence. The brunette looked at her wide-eyed, surprised by Anabel`s words. The purple-haired woman laughed heavily when she noticed May`s face.

"I see you forgot that I`m psychic, right?" Anabel asked, while May facepalmed. "It`s okay, don`t feel ashamed. I can read thoughts of both of you, even thoughts of Latias" she turned to the Pokemon, which had transformed into its normal form and was sleeping in the corner of the room. "And I know the reason why you came here. It is about Ash."

"Yes, indeed" Paul answered. "We want to know what really happened to him, because this "suicide theory" is a complete nonsense."

"I remember that you and Ash were close friends after only a couple of days spent together, so I thought that maybe he contacted you in the past, and maybe you know something more about this case" May said. Anabel looked at her with a frown and turned her head to look at her cup of tea. She sat like that for a couple of minutes, making both teens more and more impatient.

"I hadn`t talked to Ash since you left the Tower years ago. But, I don`t need to talk with anyone to know what is going on in his, or her, head." She made a pause. It looked like she was struggling to say something, maybe she had internal dispute. "I never told this to anyone, but I think I can trust you. By looking in your heads, I can tell that you are good people, so telling you my secret isn`t dangerous. And, it will help you understand everything."

She looked at both May and Paul, who were waiting for her to continue with wide eyes. Anabel sighed and continued.

"May, you were right that I got on well with Ash very quickly. But our relation was different for two of us. He considered me as another friend, while I started thinking about him in far more… romantic way" Anabel looked at them, only to see their jaws wide opened. "I knew you would react like that. But back to the topic: I used to read his thoughts, maybe it was inappropriate, but believe me: when you meet that one, special person, nothing is inappropriate to you. After a couple of months of 'spying' on him I realized that my love was only one-sided."

"I didn`t know…" May said, confused even more. She would never consider Anabel to fall for Ash, as a young girl she was sure that there was only a friendship between the Salon Maiden and the trainer. " _It must have been hard for her to live with awareness that he doesn`t feel the same way_ " the brunette thought. Of course, Anabel heard it, even if May said nothing, and she smiled reassuringly at the girl.

"It`s okay May, I learned to live with those feelings. It doesn`t bother me anymore, but it doesn`t mean that I stopped reading Ash`s mind. I was curious about how he was doing, and I followed his every step, hoping that I might help him with something. He was doing fine in Sinnoh and Unova, but in Kalos something started to happen in his head." Anabel sighed. "What I mean is… he became depressed. He started to think if his journey had any sense, he isolated himself from his friends, and after some time even I couldn`t reach his inner feelings. He was in a great inner pain, because he lost so many leagues without winning one, the second loss in Kalos devastated him. Every day made him more and more broken inside... So, I wasn`t really surprised when I heard that he committed suicide."

"So, it is true that he is dead…?" Paul asked. While Anabel`s monologue, he started to realize that Ash`s dream to become a Pokemon Master slowly destroyed his life. He nearly lost hope of seeing Ketchum again. May was all in tears; she couldn`t say anything. She was quietly sobbing.

"All I can say is that Ash we had known for such a long time is dead" Anabel said. "Though, his body is still alive, I don`t know where exactly he is, but I can feel his presence"

Paul didn`t understand her words. He started asking Anabel for more details, without luck. May however, realized what the Salon Maiden said.

" _Ash… why you didn`t tell me what was happening_?" she asked herself in her thoughts. " _I am sure that I would find some solution to help you…_ " she sighed. " _Good thing that he is still alive. I will find him, but after Anabel`s words, I fear that I might not be happy with what I find…_ "

"Don`t blame yourself May" Anabel said, not listening to Paul`s questions anymore. "He didn`t want to disappoint his friends, he would never ask anyone for help."

"I see…" May said. "So…" she turned to the woman. "Do you know where we can start searching?"

"I can`t tell much, but the destination you had chosen before you came here might bring you some answers."

"Okay, thank you for everything Anabel. I`d love to stay here a bit longer, but our ship will swim off in two hours and we need to go." Paul bowed to the woman. Anabel responded with a grin and when Paul stood up to wake up Latias, she took surprised May to the side.

"Listen…" she whispered. "I knew Ash`s feelings, and all I can say is… is that I`m happy that it was you who decided to search for him" she made a pause when she noticed May`s surprised expression.

"What… do you mean Anabel?" the brunette asked, now very confused.

"Let`s just say that your last videocall with Ash was the last moment when I felt he was really happy. Since then… well, you know" Anabel smiled sadly, and slowly walked away.

After leaving Anabel`s house and begging Latias for another flight, they started heading to the port where their ship was already waiting. Anabel waved to them and came back to her house. She sat on her couch, and nearly immediately her Espeon jumped on her thighs. She started to pet him slowly. Smile didn`t leave her face for the rest of the evening.

" _May…_ " she thought to herself. " _I know you will eventually bring him back. You`re the only person that can do it._ "


	7. Chapter 7

**Note #949**

 _Dear diary,_

 _This is getting more and more complicated. I`m still eager to search for any clues, but I have a feeling that my head will soon explode._

 _We have been in Anabel`s house for a short amount of time, but still, we did get a lot of information. The most important one: Ash Ketchum is still alive! I should be jumping out of happiness, but the truth is that I`m more confused than earlier. What Anabel said was that Ash isn`t the same person anymore. We might not even recognize him when we find him… I fear that he might not want to see us. And we still don`t know where he is. Pretty bad situation if you ask me._

 _Right now we are on a ferry that swims towards Kalos. In an hour or two we will get to the Cyllage City. We will see what we will do next._

* * *

May closed her diary and threw it in her backpack. She stood up from a table and went straight to the coffee machine that was located in one of the shelves. She was really tired after spending the night awake, but she didn`t want to even hear about taking a short nap. She poured dark liquid into a cup and returned with it to the table.

She opened a book that she bought in a bookstore back in Kanto. They arrived in the port an hour earlier and she was able to get the one she wanted. The book was about a Pokemon called Ditto – the one she saw at the cemetery. She really wanted to find any information about their powers, but the only fact she was able to get was that Ditto`s only known move was Transform. Nothing about it being able to use Teleport. It physically couldn`t even learn this move, it could use it only after transforming into certain creatures.

May growled out of anger as she closed the book quickly and threw it at the door to the room. She didn`t see that Paul was entering the room at the same time, and only his reflex saved him from getting a bump on his head. Surprised and scared at the same time, he looked at his friend and automatically understood the reason of her action.

"May, I said that you should rest a bit, just look at yourself" he said while reaching for a small mirror. May was faster than him; she grabbed the item and threw it out of the window. A silent splash could be heard. Paul facepalmed.

"Well, some water Pokemon have just received a new toy" he sighed. "Please, we still have two hours, just take a quick nap" he begged her. She looked at him with annoyance and took a sip of her coffee.

"I already said: I won`t sleep until I find out why this overgrown jelly teleported somewhere in its normal form" she said weakly. "But what about your investigation?"

"I did find something" Paul sat in front of her. "This girl… Serena, was a finalist in an event called 'Master Class' two years ago, in Ash`s first year in Kalos region. Nothing more about her since then."

"Only this?" May asked devastated.

"I also know that she is from Vaniville Town" Paul added. "We should pay her a visit soon before we make any move, otherwise we will still know nothing."

"I know, I know" May grumbled. "Thank you Paul, and... sorry for nearly knocking you out with that stupid book."

"Well… I will forgive you only if you go to bed and rest for the rest of our cruise" Paul shrugged. When he saw a bored look on May`s tired face, he could only smile.

"I need you awake for later, so you will be able to at least walk by yourself, and by looking at our shapeshifting companion I guess she won`t be eager to carry you on her back" the boy turned to one of the beds, where Latias in-human-form was still sleeping heavily. He only hoped that when the time for waking her up came, he wouldn`t get blasted off with Dragon Pulse or something.

May sighed. "Okay, you are right. But can you try to read that book in the meantime? I feel like I did miss something important"

Paul frowned and looked at the book. Its state was more than bad; it looked like throwing it at the metal doors hadn`t been a good idea. But knowing that it would reassure May to the point she would fall asleep, the boy took it and opened it at the first page.

' _ **Chapter 1: The Anatomy of a Ditto'**_

"Oh great…" Paul moaned.

* * *

"All right, I suppose this is the Cyllage City" Paul said, while looking at the map in his hands. "In this town you can buy various clothes and… bikes?"

"Bikes, huh?" May asked. She had just done stretching her body after a nap. "When we find Ash, I must take him here, he still owes me one."

"So Dawn wasn`t the only one who had her bicycle destroyed?" Paul asked, raising his eyes to the girl. His gaze landed not on May, but on Latias – surprisingly, after waking up today she was very calm. But he didn`t mind of course, he had more important things on his mind than to watch over her.

"He did this to Misty too, but from what I heard she had that bike repaired by Nurse Joy." May giggled. "I still can remember the smell of my bike when it got barbecued by Pikachu…"

"We can go to the bike store if you want to see some" Paul offered. "We must find the way to get to Vaniville Town anyway, I hope the seller will know if there are any buses or trains to that town."

"That`s not a bad idea, Latias, you heard him? Let`s go!" May said happily. She started to walk away but was instantly stopped by Paul.

"What?"

"You`re going in the wrong direction…"

"Oh, ok."

* * *

"… so there is no other way to get there?" A conversation could be heard in a small bike store. May and Paul were standing in front of an old man who owned the shop. Latias in the meanwhile became more energetic when she saw all of those bicycles – it was sure that if she had an opportunity, she would try all of them.

"I`m sorry you two, there was a bus that drove through Vaniville, but it wasn`t very popular. They closed that line about a year ago." The man sighed. "You must go there by feet"

"Mhm… thank you anyway, sir" Paul said. He went out of the shop and sat on a near bench to collect his thoughts. He knew that if they walked there, they would arrive in the town in a week. They didn`t have that much time, and he was well aware of that.

May, on the other hand, focused on the bikes in the shop. There were many kinds of them: road bikes, mountain bikes, cross bikes… She watched every one of them in the shop, she was amazed of their quality, but she didn`t find anything she liked. Just when she was heading to the exit, Latias stopped her and showed an unusual bike that was standing near the window.

This bicycle was a Hybrid one. It had characteristics of both road and mountain bikes. Also, this one, unlike the others, had matt, black lacquer and interestingly curved handlebar. May must have admitted, this one got her attention.

"Excuse me, how much is this bike?" May asked the seller.

"Sorry, but this one is custom made. The lady who ordered it should be here at any minute… Oh, here she comes!" The man announced with a smile.

May turned to see the woman and… she was kind of surprised. This lady was no more than forty years old, she worn colorful clothes and had dark, brown hair. She surely didn`t look like she would ride on a bike like this.

"Hello there Mr. Hammond! I see that you have something for me" the woman said with a smile. May didn`t want to interrupt them, so she took Latias`s hand and both of them left the shop to join Paul.

"All right, you paid for it earlier, so the only thing I need you to do is to fulfill those papers… you know, warranty and everything…" the man said to the woman while giving her a piece of paper. "You know, I really think that they should revive the bus line to Vaniville, there is no way to get to your city!"

"Yes, I suppose this is a reason why we don`t have many guests" the lady giggled.

"No, but really, those kids that have just left the shop wanted to get to your town." He said. "I feel bad for them, they will have to go by feet for a week or more…"

"They want to get to Vaniville? You should have said that at the beginning!" the woman said and walked to the exit so quickly that she dropped a pen she was holding. She made it just in time; two girls and a boy were about to leave.

"Hey, I heard that you want to get to Vaniville Town, is that truth?" the woman asked.

"Uh… yes, why do you ask?" May responded, quite surprised. Paul and Latias had the same expressions.

"If you wait a couple of minutes, you can go with me! My car stands on the parking lot nearby, and since I am from Vaniville I`ll gladly take you with me!" the woman said happily.

"If it isn`t a problem…" Paul said, embarrassed a bit.

"Of course not! Just wait a bit, I`ll be here in no time!" and she disappeared in the shop again. The teenagers and a Pokemon in disguise looked at each other with a frown, but they eventually shrugged. They couldn`t refuse, especially not now. And the possibility to travel in comfortable conditions was too tempting.

* * *

"So, what brings you to Vaniville Town?" the woman asked. They left Cyllage just after the lady packed a bike on the back of her off-road vehicle. They were on the way to Vaniville for an hour now, but it was her first question. May and Paul established what they could tell her earlier, and since Latias couldn`t talk, everything should have gone just as they planned.

"We… want to find a friend with whom we lost contact at some point." May responded. "And again, we wanted to thank you Mistress, you know, for taking us with you…"

"No problem my dear, I like company while I`m driving" the woman said. "And, since I have a daughter that`s also your age, I couldn`t let you travel alone. Kalos may be quite safe, but recently there were rumors about some gangs moving here. So even if you had left before I offered you a ride, I would still see you somewhere on the road and offer to take you with me. And by the way, call me Grace."

"Okay Grace" Paul and May both said at the same time. Latias was as silent as always.

"Uh, is everything alright sweetie?" Grace asked. "You have been silent since we left Cyllage City."

"Well, Katie is mute, so she couldn`t say anything even if she wanted." May said with fake sadness. It did the trick; Grace reddened on her face and remained silent for another couple of minutes. She was punishing herself for not telling the truth, especially when the woman was so kind to them, but it was necessary.

"I`m sorry, I…" Grace started.

"It`s okay, you couldn`t have known about this" Paul said. "You see, she just misses our friend. We had known him for a long time, and Katie always had a strong bond with him. Her mood will change when we find him, I guarantee."

"If I may ask you, why do you want to get to Vaniville Town? It`s very small, and I know everyone out there. I don`t remember any boy moving to our city recently."

Paul and May didn`t think about the answer for this kind of question. They had to improvise.

"Well… We don`t know where he is exactly, but we know that he was in Vaniville. We heard that he had a friend there, so we wanted to pay her a visit and get some information." May explained, slightly stressed. No one in Kalos knew that Ash Ketchum was alive, and since he was somewhat famous in this region, it wouldn`t be a good idea to announce it loudly.

"Hmm… that`s a tough case, indeed" Grace said. "A year ago, I would ask my daughter. She probably knows something, as I said, it is a small city after all, but…"

"But what?" Paul asked.

Grace sighed.

"Let`s say, that… Serena has changed a bit since last year. But I shouldn`t torture you with my personal problems" Grace saddened a bit.

After hearing that name Paul, May and Latias froze. They were travelling with Serena`s mother? That complicated their situation – it must have been THAT Serena.

" _Paul, we must think about something very quickly_ " May whispered to her friend. Paul nodded and looked at the small mirror hanging on the internal part of the car roof.

"Uh… I don`t want to stress you or something, Grace… but what is that?!"


End file.
